Who Pays for Your Shelter?

Some people assure me that they already make regular donations. Yep, they mail their checks to Washington DC, New York City, or St. Louis and are happy to help the animals.

Adair County Humane Society

I frequently encounter two common misconceptions about the local Animal Shelter.

Some people think that we are a city pound or an arm of the county government. Who can blame them? Our name includes the words “Adair County.” It IS confusing!

Please allow me to clear this up. We receive no financial support from Adair County, even though the citizens of Adair County bring in animals to the shelter every day. And we are not a city pound. The city of Kirksville provides a monthly stipend in exchange for the care of animals brought in by the Kirksville Animal Control Officer. But the great majority of our revenue comes from donations from animal-loving folks like you. We are in fact a local non-profit organization with tax exempt 501(c)(3) status.

Other people assure us that they already make regular donations. Yep, they mail their checks to Washington DC, New York City, or St. Louis and are happy to help the animals.

These people also mean well. But what they don’t realize is that the checks they send to the national and state animal welfare groups don’t actually help us do our work locally. We don’t get even a small cut. Not a penny. There are many animal welfare groups out there and they may do some good work on the national or state level. But they don’t have much effect on our local population of homeless animals.*

But a check sent to a Kirksville address (P.O. Box 481) for the purpose of supporting your local Humane Society can make a huge local impact. (The same goes for donating online at www.adairhumane.org.) Every penny of your donation to the Adair County Humane Society will be spent locally on kibble to restore the poor malnourished dogs who were just brought in as strays; on kitty litter for these adorable little kittens and their mama who will need to be with us for eight weeks before they can go to their forever homes; on spay/neuter certificates to help your neighbor fix his dog before she has yet another litter of unwanted puppies; or on fuel to transport hundreds of animals each year to collaborating rescue groups. We think all of these animals deserve a second chance and your support.

We operate the Animal Shelter on a modest budget with a small staff of dedicated individuals. Our treasurer manages our limited resources extremely well. Believe me: every penny is stretched as far as it can go. But we are in constant need of the support of community members who care about homeless animals locally and want to see them treated well. If this describes you, please consider making a donation today.

*An important exception to this is the ASPCA grant program. We have been lucky enough to receive three grants (in the amounts of $1500, $2000, and $3000) from the ASPCA within the last three years to support our March spay/neuter campaign. But let’s be honest: these grants, although significant for us, are just a drop in the bucket for this large organization. Why not write two checks? Support us and them.